Scientific Research and Studies

In November 1997, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) convened a panel of 12 distinguished physicians and scientists to review the history, licensing, practice, and current status of clinical research on the effectiveness of acupuncture.

The first formal endorsement of acupuncture by NIH stated, “There is sufficient evidence of acupuncture’s value to expand its use into conventional medicine and to encourage further studies of its physiology and clinical value.”

The panel reviewed evidence that acupuncture is effective for relief of:

post-operative chemotherapy

pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting
and post-operative dental pain

relief of post-operative pain

addiction

stroke rehabilitation

carpal tunnel syndrome

osteoarthritis

headache

tennis elbow

fibromyalgia

menstrual cramps

asthma

In a more recent official report, Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials (2003), the World Health Organization (WHO) has listed the following symptoms, diseases and conditions that have been shown through controlled trials to be treated effectively by acupuncture:

The panel found that one of the advantages of acupuncture is that the incidence of adverse effects is substantially lower than that of many drugs or other accepted medical procedures used for the same condition.